Intel has entered into an agreement with iHub to foster and grow the developer community in Africa through targeted investments in mobile app development, online developer resources, university training programs, device seeding programs and expansion of technology hubs.
This is a great news for the developers who have been working at iHub. There has been a lot of talks about there being a lot of money within Kenyan tech space but somehow I have not seen it trickling down to the developers which need it the most. This should be a chance, for the developers to get the long needed boost to move forward.
The amount involved is not disclosed but the speculation around is that it is a big sum of money by the Kenyan standards. I hope this will bring in the much needed transformation within the Kenyan tech space. Intel intends to provide broadly available developer training through iHub and Intel’s Developer Zone, an online developer resource that enables the creation and porting of Android apps. Intel will also distribute Intel Android devices to the tech hubs, and will collaborate with select universities across the continent to enhance the ability of developers to create rich user experiences on Intel hardware with Android.
Danie Steyn, general manager of Intel East Africa, said the company’s goal was to enable applications from Africa for the Android market place in 2013, with the primary areas of focus being education, rich media, and gaming.
“Our engagement will not only be around educating the developer community, but we’ll also run a series of hackathons across Africa network in partnership with iHub. We’re extremely excited about the growing developer engagement in Africa, and we’re deeply committed to helping the African software ecosystem grow and thrive.”
Erik Hersman, the Founder of the iHub said:
The software development scene in Africa is active but still nascent, we’re excited to partner with Intel to grow it
iHub will work with 10 universities in Kenya, and host 30 events targeted at software associations, independent software vendors and in the first year.
